Overexertion, including lifting, pushing, pulling, carrying or throwing was the primary cause of disabling injuries at work in 2012, contributing to over 25 percent of the total number of injuries and costing businesses $15.1 billion.

The finding comes from the 2014 Workplace Safety Index (WSI), the annual report published by Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, a world-renowned safety and health research facility. The 2014 edition of WSI identifies the “10 leading causes and direct costs of workplace injuries in 2012.”

After overexertion came same level falls, which cost $9.19 billion and comprised 15.4 percent of all total workplace injuries. Third was being struck by an object or equipment clocking in at $5.3 billion and 8.9 percent. Rounding out the list are falls to a lower level; other exertions or bodily reactions, roadway incidents involving a motorized land vehicle; slip or trip without fall; caught in/compressed by equipment or objects; repetitive motions involving micro-tasks; and struck against object or equipment.

The WSI report was compiled using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the company’s workers compensation claims, and the National Academy of Social Insurance.

The National Transportation Safety Board published the 2015 edition of its “Most Wanted” List, which lists the transportation safety improvements that the agency wants to highlight for the year.

Released during the 94th meeting of the Transportation Research Board on January 13th in Washington, D.C., the list is made up the following urgent tasks:

Disconnect from Deadly Distractions

End Substance Impairment in Transportation

Implement Positive Train Control in 2015

Improve Rail Tank Care Safety

Make Mass Transit Safer

Require Medical Fitness for Duty

Strengthen Commercial Trucking Safety

Strengthen Procedural Compliance.

The list is based on NTSB’s accident investigations and aims to raise awareness of vital issues in transportation. The NTSB is an independent Federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant accidents in other modes of transportation.

View a PDF of the Most Wanted List. It includes brief backgrounders on each item in the list.

Enhancing your safety culture is about more than removing hazards and institutionalizing safety procedures. It's about people – their attitudes, behaviors and thoughts – and the changing dynamics of today's world.

Join DuPont Sustainable Solutions for a one-day workshop, Elevating Your Safety Culture, at a location near you and discover how DuPont develops safe attitudes and behaviors among employees. This event is limited to senior level executives who have a leading role in driving their organizations to safety excellence and achieving sustainable growth.

Elevating Your Safety Culture provides an in-depth look at DuPont proven safety methods, best practices, and learning and development solutions which help develop a strong safety culture. The workshop also covers how to align your learning and development strategies with your business objectives. Providing relevant training that suits your employees' needs, your organizational culture and your business goals helps increase safety awareness and improve safety culture.

Your registration fee of $395 includes lunch and refreshments. Register by February 25 and get an early bird rate of $295!

At DuPont, we believe that all accidents are preventable, and have operated under the motto "safety first" for more than 200 years. Now, we would like to share with you the knowledge we've gained from solving some of the world’s most complex safety challenges, including our own. Join us at one of the following locations for Elevating Your Safety Culture.

Effective January 1, 2015, all employers must inform the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of all work-related deaths within 8 hours of their occurrence, and of in-patient hospitalizations, amputations and loss of an eye within a 24 hours.

Call 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) or contact the nearest OSHA area office during regular business hours to make a report. A map of regional offices can be found here. An electronic online form will soon be available via this link.

The International Safety Equipment Association is revising the American National Standard for High-Visibility Safety Apparel and Headwear and is looking for prospective participants in a consensus panel that will review the standard.

Participants may either be a producer or manufacturer of the product pertaining to the standard; a user; a government agency that regulates the use of the product; or a party that has a general interest because of safety, technical, or other requirements. This last category includes individuals who are experts on the product but are neither users nor manufacturers.

Participants will submit their comments on the standard, vote for its approval, and determine if it can be submitted to ANSI to become an American National Standard.

*Offer is only good on Coastal/DuPont-produced programs. It cannot be combined with other offers and is not good on previous purchases. It cannot be used on the purchase of STOP™ or Take Two…for Safety™ materials. Offer good on English and Spanish titles only. Offer ends 2/28/15.

Please note: Safety Currents Express is a complimentary bimonthly newsletter updating you on the latest trends, news and information. All issues may be forwarded in their entirety via e-mail. Materials in this issue may only be reprinted with permission.